POMONA, Calif. — No. 13 Cal State Monterey Bay maintained its 2–game lead atop the CCAA standings with a 6–4 win over Cal Poly Pomona Sunday afternoon at Scolinos Field. The victory gives the Otters a series split with the Broncos.

CSUMB improved to 28–10 overall and 22–10 in the CCAA. UCSD completed a home sweep of Stanislaus State Sunday afternoon and sits two games back at 20–12 in conference action. Chico State is three back at 20–14.

The Otters took an early lead Sunday when a Ruben Gonzalez (Murrieta Mesa HS) single made it 2–0 in the second inning. But Pomona took advantage of an Otter error in its half of the inning to score a pair of unearned runs in a 4–run burst that, briefly, gave the Broncos a 4–2 lead.

Max Sanderson (Pleasanton/Foothill HS) and Hayden Duer (Davis HS) scored in the third as CSUMB instantly equalized. Connor Caspersen (Amador Valley HS) doubled home Jordan Esposo (Monterey HS/MPC) to put the Otters back on top in the fifth before another Caspersen RBI knock in the seventh plated Darren Kriz (Chaminade Prep/College of the Canyons) with a superfluous insurance run.

Jeffery Ahern (Anderson HS) pitched 3 1/3 innings of 2–hit, shutout relief to earn the win, improving to 3–1. Connor Fabing (San Benito HS) tossed a scoreless ninth for his ninth save of the season.
 

---

THE GAME WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… Connor Fabing got Brennan McKenzie to ground into a 6–4–3 double play to end the game.

FABING'S SAVINGS AND LOAN… Connor Fabing registered his ninth save of the season in Sunday's win, putting him alone in second place on the Otter single–season saves list. He needs one more save to tie the record of 10 set by A.J. Quintero back in 2013.

HE KEEPS ON ROLLING… TJ Dove kept his school record streak of reaching base safely alive with a first–inning double Sunday at Cal Poly Pomona. He has reached in 38 consecutive games, or, to put it another way, in every game of his Otter career. The double ran his hitting streak to a personal season–high 12 games.

LEADERS OF THE RAFT… Connor Caspersen (2x5, 2B, 2 RBI); Darren Kriz (3x4, 2 R, RBI); Jakob Davidson (2x4); Jeffrey Ahern (W (3–1), 3.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 K, 0 BB); Greg Steinbeck (1.2 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 3 K, 0 BB).

THE LAST WORD… "We pitched really well today. Levi Noddin, Jeffrey Ahern, Greg Steinbeck, and Connor Fabing all were on their games. We had a miscue on defense resulting in a big inning for Pomona. Other than that, we were pretty clean all day. We had contributions from some guys that haven't gotten a ton of opportunities this year. Jakob Davidson was really good behind the plate and had a few really good at bats. The CCAA schedule is a battle of attrition. And we are right in the middle of the grind with a few guys beat up, so it's important for the next guy up to be prepared and ready to play. Splitting on the road is never a bad thing in this conference." — CSUMB Head Coach Walt White